Vinyl for Digitally Recorded Music - ?

The mastering process for vinyl is so different than CDs resulting in a way different (not necessarily better) sound. I for one prefer that vinyl sound, but I am pragmatic about the fact it's my personal preference, and someone else may prefer the sound from Red Book CDs.

Plus, ironically, with Digitals wider dynamic range CDs are often (especially in the case of Rock music) mastered to be as loud as possible, zipping the dynamic life right out of them. I tend to listen to Rock music mostly, so for me, this is a big deal.

And... A lot of those huge Studer 24 track ATRs out there are being pulled back into service (Rock, again): Record onto multitrack Tape, Send that to Edit in Protools (Digital), Send output of edited tracks in protools back to Tape, Then send final, analog summed mix (i.e. 2 track) back to high resolution digital recorder. My point being even on digital recordings there's more analog stuff being part of the modern recoding process than you might think.

"But, I have started collecting vinyl versions of digitally recorded and mastered music and find that the quality just doesn't compare with the older analog recorded stuff."

Some of the early ones are the worst of both worlds.

Wow. Thank you. All of your responses are really quite helpful and educational. It makes complete sense that much more information can be placed on the vinyl than the redbook. It is interesting to learn that some current recordings are using analog in the processing chain.

My disappointment might be because my recently acquired vinyls are dated mainly in the earlier part of the D/A curve. But, I recently got a few of the 180 gram recordings, and I find most inferior to their cd counterparts. My cd and analog gear is pretty good, and based on $s, the analog chain should be better. My music tastes avoid classical, focusing mainly on rock, pop, jazz, vocals.

You have definitely given me reason to keep consuming vinyl versions of currently recorded music. Is there anything to look for on the label that might indicate the quality of the source used to produce the vinyl?

Albert and Johnnyb53, I would like to test this and hear for myself. Could you recommend couple of LPs where the recording and/or mastering was done in digital? Not classical please.
I only have one record from 1987 where the recording was analog but mastering digital. The record does sound better but still there is a lot of that digital garbage in the sound. However, my analog rig is on the higher level than cd player so the comparison is not quite fair. I have no way to know how that cd would sound on $50k digital front end compared to the record on my Spacedeck.

02-18-11: Inna
Albert and Johnnyb53, I would like to test this and hear for myself. Could you recommend couple of LPs where the recording and/or mastering was done in digital?

My previous post mentioned three digitally recorded LPs that I like. Others include most of the low-cost $11.99 LP reissues on OJC (Original Jazz Classics). Granted, the $35-40 all-analog reissues sound better, but many of the $11.99 ones digitally remastered at Fantasy Studios aren't half bad. Also, Pat Metheny went digital when he moved to Geffen records, and I have a few of the European-pressed LPs--Still Life (talking), Letter from Home, and especially Question and Answer. Q&A sounds especially good, though I had to get it from the UK on eBay.